Even
by LysCat
Summary: Claire and Peter have a conversation about the events in episode 0.7


Title: Even  
Author: Alysia

Category: Cannon to the show.

Summery: Just a conversation between Claire in Peter about the events that took place during the episode "0.7"  
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters familiar to the show.

"I'm glad that you're okay," Claire Bennett confessed in a small voice. She wanted to look at her companion, but she felt embarrassed. Ever since she learned that they were related, she had no idea how to proceed.

Naturally, she was thrilled with the idea that she and Peter were bonded so closely. Aside from that, she felt that she now among strangers. Family was only a word, though with Peter, it actually meant something. Of course there was a tiniest bit of embarrassment as well. She'd thought about Peter every minute of everyday since the night of Homecoming. She was a teenage girl, and she'd be lying if she said that she hadn't noticed his looks.

Peter Petrelli's lip dipped down as a smile quirked his lips. "Me too," he confessed. If it wasn't for Claire, his family would have thought him dead and would have buried him. Not that he blamed them, he probably would have done the same. "How…did you know? I mean I was…dead."

"The same thing happened to me, except there was no one there to save me." Even when she thought about Brody, she felt an involuntary shudder pass through her. "I woke up on an examining table."

Peter frowned. How did she manage to get in that situation? "What happened?"

"I was impaled on a branch. I wasn't dead, in the literal term, or…I guess I was to everyone else," Claire explained. "But I can't be killed. When the medical examiner pulled the branch from my head…I guess my body had just been shut down."

"Makes sense, since your brain is what controls everything…" Peter trailed off.

A quiet settled over the two. It wasn't quite uncomfortable, only awkward. Claire took a chance and looked around the room. Her body stiffened when she spotted Nathan and Angela Petrelli conversing softly in the next room. Seeing, more than feeling her body tense, Peter followed her gaze.

"So, it's kind of weird, huh?" Peter asked, dragging her attention to him. "You being my niece…"

Claire offered a thin smile. "When my…power came about, I was so intent of finding my biological parents," she shared. "Now that I know, I wish I didn't."

She wasn't sure what to think about her biological mother. While Claire felt as though she could at least talk to the firestarter, she didn't know if she wanted to. She heard about the amount of money that Nathan offered her, what did the woman do? She offered Claire less that half of it, not that she would have accepted it. Claire didn't are about the money, but the fact that her 'mother' did, spoke volumes. The fact that she hid so much from Claire also spoke leaps and bounds.

As for Nathan, it was apparent that he wanted her as a daughter just about as much as she wanted him for a father. When he offered money…refused to meet her that was it for Claire. She doubted that she would ever get over that first impression.

Feeling as though he should stick up for his brother, Peter tried to offer something. "Nathan's not all bad."

Claire rolled her eyes. "He's bad enough…" she muttered. "I saw him…in Texas. He went to see her. When she asked if he wanted to meet me, he turned her down, but he did give her a hefty check."

Peter stilled. What? His brother did what? "Claire…" He turned to look at his brother then. Sometimes he had to wonder, just what his brother had become. Growing up, he adored Nathan, he looked up to Nathan. In turn, his older brother protected him, but when he helped now, sometimes Peter felt that it was just so he could head things off before they grew bad for him, not the hospice nurse.

"I wasn't expecting to automatically become a part of this new family; I just wanted to feel like I belonged somewhere."

"You know, he wasn't trying to insult you…" Peter tried to excuse.

Claire nodded. "I know." It wasn't easy for her, and so she could imagine that things were just as difficult for Nathan, if not, more so. "My head keeps telling me that, but it still stings…to know that he turned me away without even meeting me."

"I'm sorry that it wasn't what you'd imagined it would be," he offered quietly.

"On the upside…" Claire began after a beat. "There's you."

"Me?"

"You saved my life…and you didn't even know me…know about me. You did it because you're a good person."

"It was destiny." Taking a moment to replay the words, Peter inwardly rolled his eyes at himself. "The painting…it showed you. When I met you…it felt…right. And now this?"

Before Claire could respond, Angela approached them.

"You must be tired, Claire," she assumed.

Claire paused. Sure, she was tired, but she was too wound after the revelations that she learned. One look at Angela Petrelli though, was all it took for her protestations to die in her throat. She knew when she was being pardoned.

"I suppose I am."

"Let me escort you to your room…"

Standing up, Claire moved to follow her biological grandmother.

"Claire?"

Turning around, Claire looked to Peter.

"You're totally my hero," he teased.

For the first time in what felt like ages, Claire giggled at his words. She wasn't sure what the next few weeks would bring, but she had a feeling that she would be okay so long as she had Peter. "Goodnight," she bid, leaving the Petrelli brothers to talk.


End file.
